I don't know who coined the term, but short, quick Questions and Answers turn Testimony into that special drill known as Popcorn.
   You are either on top of the dictation or you are dropping.  There is no middle ground.  Popcorn Testimony is unforgiving. 
   This makes it the perfect drill to teach Literary.  On the average Literary drill, you can learn bad habits.  These habits could be the reason why you are not passing Literary.   Popcorn drill will not allow such habits. 
   Sometimes, the very best drill for Literary is Popcorn Testimony.

   By the way, you can tell whether you need Popcorn Testimony by asking yourself this question:  Do you hate Popcorn Testimony?  If you do, then you really need to practice it. 

   This is our Age of Enlightenment.  The speed-first methods of writing are falling into disfavor.  It will take time.  Ten years ago, a teacher who believed in clarity and rhythm was a maverick.  Today, the roles are being switched.  The mainstream authors, save one misguided exception, all agree.  Speed is not the answer. 

   Some of your teachers get as irritated as I do over the "new" theories of writing as fast as possible on material that is beyond your abilities.  We heard it all before.  It's not new.  It didn't work for us.  It won't work for you. 

   Speed isn't the answer.  Even the guys who preach speed don't really believe it anymore.  They have gotten tired of the rest of us asking them about clarity and control.  Nowadays, they always end their lectures by saying "And of course, you must have clarity and control the whole time." 

   Heck, if I have clarity and control, I don't need speed.  I need directions to the next class because I just passed my tests.

   I go farther than most teachers.  I don't teach speed at all.  I teach how to handle hesitation, big words, little words, clarity, carrying, strategy, dropping, names, numbers, phrases, briefs, etc.  In my class, I don't want you to be writing at top speed.  I want you to write slower than that so that you can achieve top performance.  Speed demons always crash and burn.  I want someone who can make it to the end of the race.
   
      If you are almost ready to pass a test and you think you need a little more speed, you probably:
         have trouble with little words
         have trouble with the s, d, g, endings.
         readback in class pretty well
         don't surge fast and slow very much, but when you do, you have trouble stopping
         have trouble regaining accuracy after you "fracture" your writing on a hard drill      
         have little trouble on speed drills
         have trouble with Testimony

   That last one isn't fair.  It's too easy.  All people who have trouble with Testimony blame it on speed.  It's a normal reaction, but it isn't correct.  Testimony if chock full of all of those simple words that you practiced in Theory.  You can write those words faster than any others.  The answer isn't speed.

   Conversely, those who hate Literary are quite frank and open that the problem is not speed.  It's all of those big blankety-blank words.

   Here is the whole deal in a nut shell.  Your success does not depend on how fast you write.  You write fast enough as it is.  You don't need to practice that skill.  You are having trouble on the tests because on certain parts of the test you write extremely slow.  If you are close to passing a test, there are only a couple of those slow sections per test. 

   You can argue that you are not writing slow, but that the dictation is coming too fast.  Same difference.  The fact is that the teacher is spitting out the words and you're having trouble writing them.  Don't worry about where we place the blame.  Worry about how to change your writing so that you gain more points on those hard sections. 

All you have to do is figure out how to perform a little better on two or three sections of a test.  Sorry, no cool answers from me.  You have to figure that out for yourself.  What is it about a test that makes it so tough?  That's the question that leads to your answer.

   The hard parts on my tests involve words that begin with vowels, names, lists of any kind, the goofy right-hand endings, strings of little words.  Those are my "hard" sections on a test.  Each one is something that I don't do very well.  Each one is something that I should practice every day.  Each one involves not a lack of speed, but a lack of basic skills. 

   In other words, I will be "faster," when I have learned not to be so slow on those things. 

   What will make you "faster"?  Find out, then direct your practice at it.

   You can't write it fast until you can write it slow.  Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. 

Answers to many questions

   ANSWER NO. 1  No.  The drill is supposed to be really slow.  The problem is dropping, not stroking.  You have to allow yourself time to learn the technique.  Go slow.  Write clean.  Drop without hesitation.

   ANSWER NO. 2  Yes, that is all right.  You can use the technique now during regular drills or tests.  Just make sure that you continue to refine the technique by repeated practice at low speed with easy words.

   ANSWER NO. 3  If you get really bored, you can use regular drill.  Just make sure you refine the technique by repeated practice at low speed with easy words.

   ANSWER NO. 4  Easy words.  That's all I'll say while you take that tone of voice.

   ANSWER NO. 5  See that wasn't so hard.  Okay, I'll tell you why easy words are better than any others as far as this drill.  You are learning to judge the relative worth of the words that you stroke.  You should be thinking about how much work it takes you to earn each point on a test. 

   When you drop, you should drop the most difficult word.  Easy words help you learn that skill.  In this case, easy words are actually the hard ones.  It is hard to tell which one to choose.
   
Hard Sentence to choose the hard word:  Where was it when you saw it? Easy words make it hard to choose.  In the first sentence, I have to weigh my clarity and speed on words that are close to memorized.  I write all of the words relatively well, but if I had to choose, the word "when" gives me more trouble.

Easy Sentence to choose the hard word:  Mr. President, the stamped legislation before us requires our utmost attention.
Hard words make it easy to choose.  Instead of pure writing, we employ briefs, phrases, squeezes, with varying success.  Some strokes are just tough.  The hardest word for me is "stamped."  I hate all words with the MP ending.  "Utmost" is also tough.  It's the same number of strokes as "requires," but I don't like the ST ending of "utmost."  "Utmost" is actually a shorter word than "legislation" or "attention," but  they are both easy one-stroke words. 

So you learn on the easy words.  Then it is a dream to apply it to the big words on regular dictation.  
   ANSWER NO. 6   Ubiquitous?  Yes, that word is everywhere, isn't it.

   ANSWER NO. 8  It took you a lot of practice and a lot of class time to get to where you are.  Be patient.  It will not take you long to get on the right track.

   ANSWER NO. 9  No, I haven't seen Answer No. 7 either.  We called his house.  His mom said he was trying out for a job as an Exhibit No.

   The book will come with its own MP3 drills.  Before each drill  begins, the speaker will announce the speed of the take and your goal.  Some drills may have additional instructions.  The drills are constructed specifically to teach how to carry correctly and drop correctly.  The drills are being written, but they won't be recorded until shortly before publication.  So I can't offer them to you, but we can achieve good results with some patient drilling on your part.

Remember that Goal Number One is Clarity.  Number Two is Carrying.

   Step Two, The Shastay Way, asked you to pick out a very easy drill with little words.  All you did was listen to it and pick out the hardest words.  I hope you picked easy stuff at a low speed.  

   Now it is time to write the drill.  Start it up, and go from beginning to end.  Write the entire drill.  You should be able to write all of it clearly and accurately at a controlled slow speed.  If you cannot do so, the drill is too hard or too fastl.  Choose a more appropriate drill.
   
   This second time through the drill, I want you to drop the last word in every sentence.  Work on this so that you can move smoothly from one stroke to another.  Watch the hesitation.

   Work on this until you get really bored with the dictation.  Then find something equally slow and easy.  Drill on that until you bored again.

   Do not challenge yourself with a difficult drill.  You are beginning.  Give yourself time to learn the basics.  By next week, you should be proficient at this drill and ready for the next step. 

   To review:
      Use easy drill at a low speed.
      You must be able to easily write all of the drill.
      Despite the fact that it is easy, I want you to drop the last word in every sentence.

   Easy, easy, easy.  If you want to learn at the maximum rate, you will use easy drill.

  

      

   I gave a special class for the 225 students to teach them the Shastay Way.  Five of them attended.  We never actually got around to using their machines.  We spent an hour discussing the method.  They were enthused.
   The next day they reported that they were able to employ the method, but they had breakdowns in technique.  I told them not to worry.  They were new to the method.   I promised them one extra hour of drill twice a week.  Several of the others want to attend. 
   I have always had trouble teaching upper speed students new things.  The Shastay Way appears to be an exception.  Students at all levels embrace the method.  That is very encouraging.  All teachers can use it with minimal resistance.
   P.S.  This weekend will see several new blogs.  I will be working constantly on the book, and I will publish the next step plus a few other things.

   I have never heard of anyone using this drill, but it is quite effective.  So unless you have a copyright, this drill is part of my official bag of tricks.

   Select an appropriate medium drill.  Tell the students that they must finish within a few strokes of the end of the drill.  Drill for ten seconds.
   Tell the students to stop as soon as the drill is over.  Read back the last four words to refresh the students' memories.  Have them check their notes to see if they were writing those words when you finished.
   Just this one time, for purposes of familarizing students with the drill, repeat the exact dictation in the exact same way.  Challenge the students to be writing somewhere on those four words when you finish dictating.

   Go on to another section.  Do not repeat the dictation again.

   This drill teaches students to stay on top of the dictation.  If the section that you chose has all easy words, then all they must do is keep their hands going.  If the section that you chose is hard, then the students must learn to drop the individual big words.

   If you are at a school that requires 98%, you can pass a test if:
      A)  you can read 98 out of 100 words
               and if you don't make any other mistakes at all.
      B)  you can read 99 out of 100 words
               and if you make only one other type of error per 100 words.
      C)  you make no mistakes of clarity
               and if you make only two other errors per 100 words.

   I have good students.  They try hard.  They are winners.  Almost all are moving along without serious trouble.  I advise them how to read their test notes, how to maintain poise, how to clear up their writing.

   Already some of them have moved on to 100 and 120.  In a few short weeks, the rest of them will graduate to the 80/100 class.  Today, I gave them a preview of an average day in 80/100s.  Today was a day of pain.  It was ordinary material, but it was all dictated at 80 with buildup minutes at 80, 100, 120.

   The trouble was not that any one drill was too fast.  The trouble was that all of it was too fast.  They weren't used to it, and, despite my best efforts in the past two months, they weren't ready for it.

   But they learned.  And when they hit the 80/100 class for real, they will be ready.  Here is what they learned and how they learned it. 

   1.  Five-minute dictation at 80.  I warned them that they would not be able to write all of the drill.  Their job was not to learn to master this drill.  Their job was to finish the drill writing smooth and clear.  If they could get all of it, fine.  If they couldn't, fine.  Their job was to finish with clean notes and without hesitation or carrying.  In other words, solid stroking habits.

   2.  One minute buildup of the first minute at 80.  I told them that if they had problems doing this drill the first time, then they would probably have problems on it this time.  Their goal was to solidify their strokes.  They should be a little better on this take since it is the second time they heard it.

   3.  One minute buildup of the first minute at 100.  I asked them if they dropped on the 80.  If they did, then I told them that they must go into this drill knowing that they will drop a lot more than before.  Their job, again, was to solidify their strokes.  They should be better this time, not worse.  Regardless of the increase in speed, this was the third time they heard it.  They should be better.

   4.  One minute buildup of the first minute at 120.  I told them that everybody has to drop on this take.  No one will be able to get it all.  Their job on this high-speed dictation remained the same as it was on the slower takes:  to solidify their writing.  Every stroke written by now (the fourth time) should be very good.

   5.  One minute readback of the first minute at 80.  Before this drill, I reminded them that this is the fifth time in a row that they were writing this particular dictation.  They should be writing very strong.  This is the fifth time; their notes should be so strong that they read them back faster than I dictated.
      
This pattern of drilling, except for the advice, is the most common method of drilling.  I have over 40 (and counting) distinct documented methods of drill, but many teachers employ this method almost exclusively.  We drilled this method for the entire class.

   At the end, I gave them the same piece of advice two times, but stated in different ways.
   1.  You have drilled on the material five times.  You should have increased your skills.
   2.  If the fast dictation is causing you to break down, then you are doing the fast dictation incorrectly.  Every bit of drill should make you stronger.  None of it should cause you to regress.

   If you have been a speed student for more than, oh, maybe two minutes, you know very well how my students felt today.  They felt overwhelmed, insecure, blindsided, and betrayed.  This was not what they thought stenography was all about.  This was not anything they had experienced in the early days of Theory.

   And today they stared into the gaping maw of the Dictation Monster (that's me) and didn't like what they saw.  Despite my best efforts in teaching them the Shastay Way, they performed below their abilities.  

   Tonight, they will get mad.  They know that I taught them how to handle that dictation.  They won't get caught again.

   Tomorrow, we repeat the drill with different material.  Tomorrow, I reinforce the Shastay Way.  From now on, they know what to expect from speed classes.  
   
   And the day after that?  Well, I expect top results on the test. 

   Despite the crowing of some educators, stenography does not require top talent or students who are the cream of the crop.  All that is required is average competency.  My students have more than enough talent and skill.  What happened today was that they forgot the proper technique. 

   I have one last point.  I had written a previous blog about how well my students performed at 120.  Today I wrote about how my students performed below their standards at 120.  It was the same group.  The difference in performance is due to the amount of speed drills used in each class.  

.................................. 

   Sorry.  No new drills or info about the Shastay Way today.  Practice as I showed you in the blog named "Step Two, The Shastay Way."  If you want, you can watch TV and practice the method.  Try the radio.  You can do it while you are having a conversation.     As I told you, I am writing this blog in conjunction with the book.  When I write more, then I will publish more.   In a few days, we move on to Step Three.  Be ready. 

                                                   Stephen Shastay
                                                   Steno Rebel

   This being the Internet, it is hard to ask questions.  So it behooves (what a crappy word) me to methodically lay out the plan.  In the book, you will have all of the chapters that you can reference for anything that is unclear.  But for now, bear with me.  It may be a little slow.